A&M Comics and Books, 1978

Among the many ruined institutions of post-internet life lies the pulp book shop, where deviant human beings of all ages, nauseated by the mundane modern world and its small-minded minions, once went to find comfort and adventure. My dream is to open one and slowly go broke as three or four or five of us roam the aisles, sifting through and savoring all the accumulating treasure.

A&M stands for owners Arnold and Maxine Square. Pat at Destination Nightmare worked there in the late ’70s and tells the story here.

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5 Responses to “A&M Comics and Books, 1978”

Aside from all the comic goodness, the proprietor is wearing a cool looking Emerson, Lake & Palmer shirt (looks like it says “Tiger in the Spotlight,” maybe a tour based on the name of their song “Tiger in a Spotlight”?). I would wear that shirt.

Reminds me of the comic shops I went to in Atlanta years ago. The Paper Chase and Book Nook. Book Nook is still in operation but paper chase went the way of the dodo. They were my first comic book memories.

Amazing story…. I found A&M Comics on 139 street in North Miami in May of 1981. I loved the smell of old used comic books. This A&M had a collage of cardboard cut outs on all the windows including one life-size R2 D2 and C3P0. The interior was pretty dark but added mystery to an 11 year old boy. My first purchase was Star Wars #45. Sadly A&M closed down this store sometime early 1982 and re-opened at 163 street NE 15 Avenue but closed that location as well within that year. It took me almost two years to finally be able to ask my Mother to take me to the original A&M store in Bird Road where I fond Maxine smiling at me.. this was early 1984. I was unable to return to A&M until the late 1990s by which then the owner Arnold had passed away and the store was under new ownership. I visit now regularly but miss the store in North Miami.

Funny enough, today am an internationally known visual artist and travel abroad often. Visit many comic book & fantasy stores in Latin America and Europe. It’s a nice treat to be able to do this.